1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of network management and, more specifically, to visualization of performance data over a network path.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traditional network management systems allow a network administrator to troubleshoot network problems using a graphical user interface (GUI). In some instances, the GUIs may include such features as a topology view of the network, a view of a network path taken by a particular service, and a view of network statistics for a particular node in the network. The topology view of the network may include a layout of all nodes and the particular IP address for each particular node. The view of a network path taken by packets associated with a particular service may be displayed by highlighting each node in the network path in the topology view. Finally, the view of network statistics for a particular node may be displayed when a network administrator zooms in on a particular node in the topology view by selecting that node.
Utilizing such network management systems, the network administrator may check network statistics for each node individually in order to troubleshoot any issues with the network. The GUI may display network statistics, such as a CPU utilization rate, memory utilization rate and link utilization rate, for a particular node in a single view.
One drawback to the approach of troubleshooting network problems using traditional network management systems is that network administrators typically need to compare network statistics for a plurality of nodes in order to isolate faults in the network and determine the root cause of the issue. Typically, values for a single network statistic are displayed in a view of the network management system, making it difficult for the network administrator to correlate a symptom with the root cause (e.g., high packet drop rate is the result of high CPU utilization). Using traditional network management systems, network administrators are required to navigate between different views within the GUI to compare network statistics between two or more nodes. Jumping back and forth between different views may lead to inefficiency and longer delays before the network administrator is able to fix the particular issue.
As the foregoing illustrates, what is needed in the art is an improved approach for visualizing performance data for multiple nodes of a network path in a common view.
For clarity, identical reference numbers have been used, where applicable, to designate identical elements that are common between figures. It is contemplated that features of any of the example embodiments may be incorporated in other embodiments without further recitation.